Fri, 03/04/2011 - 15:51

Oaklawn: Honeybee Stakes prospect Joyful Victory will add blinkers

Barbara D. Livingston
Joyful Victory will make her first start since finishing fifth in last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in next Saturday's Honeybee.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Joyful Victory will add blinkers next Saturday when she makes her first start since the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in the Grade 3, $125,000 Honeybee at Oaklawn Park.

The 1 1/16-mile race will share a card with the Grade 3, $125,000 Razorback Handicap.

Joyful Victory could go favored on the heels of a 2-year-old season in which she ran fifth in the Breeders’ Cup and third in the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont Park. She joined the stable of trainer Larry Jones in January after beginning her career with trainer Tony Dutrow.

Fri, 03/04/2011 - 15:51

San Felipe can be benchmark for Bench Points

Benoit & Associates
Bench Points makes it four in a row with a Santa Anita victory in February.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The trips to Kentucky racetracks during his years at the University of Indiana gave Chip Martin an introduction to horse racing in the early 1990s. If the atmosphere at Churchill Downs was not enough of a hook, there was always the camaraderie with friends.

When Martin, now 39, relocated to California and had professional success, he found himself in the same sporting circle as some members of the Southern California racing community through a golf club membership. Once again, he was lured to the game, this time as an owner.

Fri, 03/04/2011 - 15:40

San Felipe at Santa Anita to pose class test for Albergatti

ARCADIA, Calif. – Albergatti will make his stakes debut in the $250,000 San Felipe Stakes over 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita next Saturday, a key prep to the $1 million Santa Anita Derby next month.

For Albergatti, who is trained by Steve Asmussen for Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stable and Natrona Racing, the Grade 2 San Felipe will be the gray colt’s first start around two turns and first start against winners.

Fri, 03/04/2011 - 15:30

Gulfstream turf sprint feature lures Rose Catherine, Stormy Publisher

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Fri, 03/04/2011 - 14:59

Yavapai hires two top executives

Bill Murphy has been hired as executive director and Mike Mullaney as general manager of Yavapai Downs in Arizona, according to a release from the track. Yavapai opens May 28 and runs through Sept. 6.

Murphy, who has been general manager at both Gulfstream Park and Thistledown, is president of the Cleveland-based consultancy Continuing Improvement Solutions, which specializes in racetrack management.

Mullaney worked with Murphy at Gulfstream Park as media relations director, and formerly was the national features editor at Daily Racing Form .

Fri, 03/04/2011 - 14:41

Kentucky Derby prospect Dialed In preps for Florida Derby against older horses

Bob Coglianese
Dialed In, winner of the Holy Bull Stakes, will prep for the Florida Derby by facing older horses in an optional claiming race Sunday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. –Trainer Nick Zito always says “you’ve got to play the cards that are dealt you” when it comes to the Kentucky Derby – even if the cards say the best play would be the unorthodox one of running his top Derby prospect Dialed In against older horses in Sunday’s fourth race at Gulfstream Park.

Fri, 03/04/2011 - 14:20

Baffert fears Santana Mile may be too short for Misremembered

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ARCADIA, Calif. – At 5, Misremembered is a different horse this year than he was last year when he won the Santa Anita Handicap, jockey Martin Garcia says.

Garcia rode Misremembered in the 2010 Santa Anita Handicap, and has worked the horse regularly in recent weeks. Garcia insists that Misremembered is a more mature horse this season, and easier to work with in the mornings.

Fri, 03/04/2011 - 13:50

Penn National adds new $200,000 stakes

Penn National Race Course has created a second marquee event as part of a track-record $1.97 million stakes package that was announced Friday for the 2011 season.

Fri, 03/04/2011 - 13:49

Aqueduct resumes racing

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Aqueduct was operating as normal Friday, one day after a severed cable forced the track to cancel its live racing program and simulcast operations.

Fri, 03/04/2011 - 10:53

Researcher stops steeplechase training, targets third Charles Town Classic win

Adam Coglianese/NYRA
Researcher is targeting a third straight Charles Town Classic victory.

After winning the Charles Town Classic for the second straight year last April, Researcher was sent to begin a second career as a steeplechaser by his new owners, Zohar Ben-Dov’s Kinross Corporation.

In an unusual change of plans, the 7-year-old Researcher is being brought back to flat racing in a bid to capture the $1 million Charles Town Classic for a third time on April 16.